Pros to lead golf academy at Laolao

Pros Mark Steinbauer and Mancil Davis will lead the newly established International Golf Academy at the Laolao Bay Golf Resort.

Steinbauer, who is one of the PGA’s top 100 golf instructors and has worked with renowned PGA pro KJ Choi and eight-year pro Roland Thatcher, will serve as the director of instruction, but will only be making a fixed number of appearances throughout the course to monitor the program’s progress.

Davis, the world-acclaimed “King of Aces” after holding PGA’s world record for most official hole-in-ones with 51, will reside on island as lead instructor along with some members of the Mark Steinbauer Training Center in Woodland, Texas.

Steinbauer and Davis were present at the launching of the International Golf Academy on Friday, joining other key officials of the school. The list includes IGA president Tanya Kim and headmaster and managing director Gary Liddle.

The academy aims to guide and provide the right program for young golfers to accomplish cutting edge academics, world-class athletics, and most importantly a strong character tailored to prepare them for their next step in life both on and off the golf course.

Kim is hoping for at least 20 students for the upcoming spring to fall semester. It is still being determined whether the semester will start in January or March 2012. Total capacity for the school is about 45.

Enrolled students will be housed on the campus right on the golf course, but have been permitted to attend other U.S. preparatory education classes at Saipan International School. They will start their days taking general education classes in the classroom located at the doorstep of Laolao’s driving range. Then after lunch, students will take part in a “Class A” interactive training program conducted by PGA instructors; students ranging from third to 12th grade are eligible. State of the art video analysis software will be used to evaluate their performance during the program.

“The new software takes video footage to the next level, much like an MRI compared to a standard X-Ray…it’s sort of like using Doppler radar to document a host of information about each student,” said Steinbauer.

Flightscope X-1 and V-1 Golf application software will be used to record the total distance, carrying distance, spin, speed, launch angels, and a predetermined “smash” factor as a club-fitting tool for the students.

Three full-size practice holes will also be constructed next to the driving range for students to obtain first hand experience in live settings. Learning Mandarin Chinese is also mandatory for all IGA students, however SIS will also offer fine and performing arts courses.

Kim said IGA is a great way to attract businesses from off-island.

“The luxury of the grounds at Laolao will surely provide an enjoyable educational experience for the young athletes. Coincidentally, Saipan is also a perfect venue for a private school golf program because of its strategic geographic location. We are located a reasonable distance from all major cities in the Pacific Rim and are very fortunate to have our top-level investors on board,” said Kim.

For more information, contact Kim at 236-8879 or 287-0501 or email tjhwang@laolaobay.com.